Happy International Women’s Month! As we celebrate International Women’s Month for 2024, I wish to acknowledge and pay tribute to all women and girls who have carried the torch of gender equality and women’s empowerment for the great strides Rwanda has made.

I also wish to acknowledge all Men Champions, the ‘HeForShes’ who have been engaged in breaking stale discriminatory stereotypes and transforming our society! Globally, this year's International Women's Day is commemorated under the theme "Invest in Women: Accelerate progress.” A conclusive statement as well as a call that emphasizes a structural and practical driver for empowering women and advancing gender equality for the achievement of global, regional, and national development targets.

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Today, the world is at a crucial crossroads for gender equality. Conflicts are on the rise, the socio-economic effects of climate change are increasingly exorbitant, and societies are becoming ever more polarized. All have something in common: they all disproportionately negatively affect women and girls. Yet, gender equality and gender parity are not only a fundamental human right; but also, indispensable requirements in building a fairer, more inclusive, peaceful, safer, more resilient, and greener society.

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Women’s economic empowerment is going to take more than bank accounts, although it's a powerful tool in the hands of women who are determined to take more control over their lives. It requires a societal approach tackling all inequalities and the issue of power imbalance in leadership, management, access to resources and opportunities and a collective effort by all stakeholders. As I have always emphasized, to make progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment, we must open fiscal spaces for women and girls’ needs and leadership, build gender inclusive fiscal systems, have a gender perspective in all financing for development mechanism, and be intentional about women and girls accessing financing for their projects and enterprises.

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In a rapidly digitizing world, how do we use technology and financial services to help solve such complex problems? The not-so-simple answer is that we must connect our work to a wider theory of change that speaks to women’s economic empowerment. We must be clear about the many constraints that hold women back. But we must also be clear about the levers we can pull, both tangible and intangible, to support women to find pathways to greater empowerment through financial services that meet their needs. And we must build partnerships with players outside our core areas of expertise who can help shift the levers that don’t directly relate to finance, such as laws, policy, and mindset change.

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Gender equality plays a catalytic role not just to transforming the lives of women and girls, but in accelerating progress toward the key dimensions of sustainable development – which are social, economic, environmental and governance. A robust set of internationally agreed norms and standards, such as the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women-CEDAW, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Maputo Protocol – "Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa” – together with the national constitution and gender policy, guarantee comprehensive rights to women and girls and recognize that peace and development are inextricably linked with gender equality. Ensuring women’s and girls’ leadership and participation is vital if global efforts to tackle global challenges are to succeed.

In Rwanda, a global benchmark towards women`s leadership has been set. With 61% of women in parliamentary positions, Rwanda stands as a global icon to the transformational impact and results that come with intentional investment towards the empowerment of women. In addition, 79 percent of women are employed in agriculture and the majority of them in subsistence agriculture. Figures clearly highlight the enormous contribution of women as key producers for both their families, market, and the country in general.

I commend the Government of Rwanda for demonstrating political will, leadership and commitment in mainstreaming gender equality and women’s empowerment in all the development frameworks, including in the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1 2017-2024), both at central and local levels. Rwanda’s intentionality on financing and accounting for gender equality and women’s empowerment at all levels and across sectors is exemplary. I commend the gender-responsive budget law and the mandatory Gender Budget Statements which concretize gender mainstreams across sectors. Most especially, the adoption of Gender Accountability Days, a mechanism geared towards institutionalizing gender accountability at district level which has resulted in the integration of Gender Budget Statements (GBS) in the national district performance contracts (Imihigo), making action and commitment towards the implementation of gender principles and targets as a national requirement. Rwanda has, therefore, made significant progress towards strengthening the financial position and independence of women by creating an enabling business environment, fueled by gender responsive budgeting, the National Gender Policy, and gender mainstreaming strategies across various sectors including agriculture, the private sector, sports, and more.

In such a context, this year’s theme "Invest in women, accelerate progress” is aligned with the priority theme for the 68th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66): "Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective". The CSW, as a key intergovernmental forum for gender equality, is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. It provides us with the opportunity to take stock of progress achieved and what is lagging in the implementation of commitments on gender equality and women's rights and priorities to forge ahead.

Promoting progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment requires strong institutions and I applaud Rwanda’s leadership on this. With a four-arm National Gender machinery comprised of the Ministry for Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF), Women Parliamentary Forum (FFRP), National Women’s Council (NWC) and Gender Monitoring Office (GMO), and gender units in public and private structures, the country has a mechanism with government, parliament, Civil Society organizations and Accountability Bodies working to promote progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

At the national level, the celebration will place a particular recognition on the critical role of women in the country`s 30-year transformational journey towards peace and prosperity at all levels, under the theme "30 years: Women in the country’s development.” Translated in Kinyarwanda as: "Imyaka 30: Umugore mu Iterambere”, gathering over 6,000 women, girls, and male champions at all levels, the occasion will celebrate and take stock of Rwanda`s achievements towards advancing the rights of women and girls. It will create a platform to shape their future contributions to accelerate Rwanda`s transformational journey.

This year is an opportunity for us to reflect, strategize, and advocate for alternative economic models that will cause a shift towards a green economy and care society that amplifies women’s voices.

The United Nations has been a key partner of the Government of Rwanda and has built strong partnerships with the civil society, the private sector and development partners, serving as a hub for knowledge and technical expertise in gender equality and women empowerment issues.

As stated by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, "It is time to stop trying to change women and start changing the systems that prevent them from achieving their potential. Our power structures have evolved gradually over thousands of years. One further evolution is long overdue. The 21st century must be the century of women’s equality.”

This strong statement recognizes that despite successes, challenges remain and persist, most of them insidious, socio-cultural and structural. Therefore, it is in our hands to be the Generation Equality as we pledged again in Paris and Mexico, by doing more, differently, and better, in a whole-of-government and whole-of society engagement. UN Women and the UN system is very proud to be your trusted partner in this exhilarating journey! You can count on us! We can count on you to continue strengthening this strong coalition which will win, whatever the obstacles are!

The author is the UN Women Representative in Rwanda.